From Psychedelics

Reading Pema Chodron’s commentary on verses 1.5-6 of Shantideva’s Bodhicharyavatara last night, I finally saw a way to articulate the strong relationship between my LSD experience and my Buddhist practice

1.5
As when a flash of lightning rends the night,
And in its glare shows all the dark black clouds had hid,
Likewise rarely, through the buddhas’ power, Virtuous thoughts rise, brief and transient, in the world.

1.6
Thus behold the utter frailty of goodness!
Except for perfect bodhichitta,
There is nothing able to withstand
The great and overwhelming strength of evil.

Her comment on these two verses ends with

“Everyone knows what it’s like for the clouds to part, even briefly, and to feel a sense of potential and possibility. Without this initial or ongoing flash, we’d never be inspired to investigate this path.”